A father-of-two who ordered his 13-year-old daughter to get out of the family home before setting it on fire has been jailed.

Danny White, 40, downed between 15 and 20 pints of beer before starting a blaze in the maisonette in The Bourne, Hastings.

He was jailed for two years for arson and three months for resisting arrest.

Lewes Crown Court heard that White, a concrete finisher, looked "angry and evil" while trashing the house while he was upset about his failed marriage.

He had to be subdued by three police officers wielding batons when he resisted arrest.

Anthony Niblett, prosecuting, said: "This defendant lived at The Bourne with his wife and their two children, aged 13 and 11.

"In the weeks preceding the incident, the defendant and his wife had agreed to split up and live apart. The defendant was looking for somewhere else to live."

On the day of the incident in July, Mrs White had gone to a pub. Their son was at a neighbour's home while their daughter remained at home.

Mr Niblett said: "That night, the defendant also went out to a pub. He had a considerable amount to drink.

"Later at 9.30pm, he returned home. He told his daughter to get out of the flat because he was going to set alight to the home.

"She immediately alerted neighbours. She said her dad had gone mental and was going to set the house alight.

"She was very distressed. Two sets of neighbours could see that the defendant was very drunk.

"He was smashing furniture and being very abusive. One of the male neighbours went in there and tried to stop him doing what he was so clearly trying to do.

"That neighbour was pushed out by the defendant."

He added that neighbour Sharon Martin, whose husband John had known White for 34 years, said he looked "angry and evil."

He said: "She had never seen him look like that before."